Sorrow's Credence
by FayCullen
Summary: Bella cannot get over the plight of her family, and when a figure from her past shows herself, Bella takes a risk and lunges at the best chance of revenge. After thrity-two years of preparation, she is ready to face her enemy: the high and mighty Volturi.
1. Chapter 1

Sorrow's Credence 1

Snow fell outside of the simple Mid-Western high school I now attended. Though it had been over three decades since I had first introduced myself to the human environment I still could hardly stand the rancid smell that wafted around the people that I interacted with. I stood out like a sore thumb here; every boy drooled after me as I walked past, my curvaceous body and perfect features sending them into imagined fantasies and making my female classmates glare after me in envy.

Since I had finally gotten up off of our bed I had dedicated myself to almost trying to move on. Today was one of the hardest days of the year. The scar on my hand throbbed and the bloody tears threatened to spill over again. Today was my birthday, September 13th, and it was also the anniversary of my family's death.

On that day I had turned nineteen, and as I sat in boredom, tuning out peoples' thoughts, I became fifty-one years old. I was still a fresh, young, vivacious eighteen year old to the humans surrounding me, but in reality I was middle aged. I laughed aimlessly at the thought of my mother's old nickname for me: her little middle aged daughter.

Renee, my mother, had long since passed of breast cancer, and I attended her funeral covered in a dark vale and excusing myself as one of her Kindergarten students many years ago. Charlie, my dad, had died only a few months after in a massive car accident that had also killed Angela with her partner Ben, and supposedly Edward and I. I had supervised Angela and Ben's joint funeral and I had seen to it that Charlie was given a proper service by my best friend, Jacob Black.

Jacob and I were a mix matched pair, his being a werewolf and all and my being a vampire. We were natural enemies but we had stuck it out for the past thirty-two years by the occasional phone call or random email. Like me, he hadn't aged a bit, but his family had died along with mine. His father Billy had passed about ten years before Charlie had. On those days we consoled each other and attended to our families' affairs.

'_Heh, I'll give her a couple of weeks and she'll be mine.'_

I immediately knew who was thinking of me and why. Tavarius Erickson was looking toward me suggestively and was imagining how I would fall into bed with him. He was new to the school, but was already over confident and thought himself a catch to most girls. He had immediately set his eyes after me the moment he had seen me. Think again, cretin.

Ever since Edward's death I had lived life almost as if I were a celibate monk. I had abstained for so long that nothing could even urge me to masturbate, and only in the beginning had I thought of it. Edward and I had only been together twice, and then he was gone.

I gripped the desk beneath my fingers, denting the wood. I had to take control of myself. This was getting too serious.

"Mr. Bergin." I said, raising my hand.

My Math teacher looked up in surprise. "What, Miss Cullen?" '_Why would she interrupt me? She never even speaks unless she is called upon.' _I clenched my teeth before I could start shouting at him for calling me Miss. I preferred Ms. Then I could at least have the possibility of being married…

"May I please be excused to the bathroom?" Flawless manners had always guaranteed anything that I wanted with the teachers. My looks helped more with the males.

"Why, yes, Miss Cullen."

Teeth on edge, I was given a pass and excused.

At last, I was out of that stinking classroom. I hated the scent of humans, and I detested having to be around them for so long. Nothing was more irritating as being with over eight hundred people smelling of garbage and other nasty things. Would any one be able to stand it?

The dull murmur of multiple human minds hummed around me. After a while you got used to the constant noise; everyone talking at once and pictures flashing all around. I could see from any vantage point around the school if I wished. It would only take a minute to hone in on one or two minds and see what they were seeing.

Mind reading was a gift that Edward and I shared, though we couldn't see into each others' minds. Not until the last moments…

The bathroom was sanctuary. I drew up to the sink and let the bloody tears splatter to the bottom of the sink. Only a few; the real crying jag would come up later that night. I wiped the blood away with an overused and stained handkerchief. I would need to do laundry soon. I was running out of means to wipe my face.

When I arrived back in class I went to Mr. Bergin and gave him his pass. No words were exchanged but he watched my backside as I walked away. He had a reputation of being overly friendly with his female students, and I was not new to his disgusting thoughts when one of the cheerleaders walked by.

The lunch bell rang. Thank God.

The line was longer than usual because I got there a bit late. I had to stop off in the bathroom first, to make sure that none of the tears were left behind. My impossibly beautiful reflection was only a reminder of them. I'm not vain, it is just a fact. All of the vampires that I know have an unnatural beauty and grace about them; just making it easier for them to attract their prey.

"Hey, baby," a voice called from behind me. "Wanna' fuck me today, or tomorrow? I can wait you know." '_She'll cave eventually, they all do.'_

I abruptly turned around and slapped that pervert, Tavarius, across the face. My hand left a dark mark on his ebony skin.

"Bitch!" He yelled before he lunged at me.

I darted to the side in a millisecond and caught him by the arm, originally planning to twist it up and dislocate his shoulder. I caught myself just in time though, and consoled myself by kicking the back of his knee and making him drop to the floor. Just before his head smacked the concrete I grabbed him by the shirt and let him hover an inch away from the ground and a broken nose. His heart faltered before I dropped him. Blood spurted out of his nose and made the smell worse.

As I turn to leave I said over my shoulder, "It was lovely making a fool out of you, you sick, infantile bastard. We should do this again sometime."

'_Holy shit. What is up with her?'_ His terrified thoughts screamed out at me. He wouldn't file a report though. No reason to further humiliate himself. He was thoroughly freaked out though. My hostile appearance was only put up to protect him, but then again no one needed protection from me: the vampire who hates human blood.

The library was only a short distance away. There, I would be able to at least attempt to clear my head by reading the aging texts in its farthest corners; losing myself in history. The past was easier to endure than the cumbersome present.

'_Hmm, Bella seems to be more distant than usual,' _the librarian, Ms. Holly, was thinking. She's much more perceptive than most humans. Ms. Holly (only her first name, preferring it to Mallory) was the only human in which I had made an, _almost,_ friend. She was my link back to my days in Forks, her daughter being Lauren Mallory. Even though Lauren and I hadn't really warmed to each other, it was comforting to know that I had a link to that time in my life. No matter how bitchy.

Although, I couldn't really say that. Maybe thirty-two years and a few kids had changed her. Holly talked of her grandchildren all of the time. Maybe Lauren had turned a new leaf, and become a better, nicer person. I couldn't really be too sure though.

Ms. Holly's phone rang. "Hello; this is the Taft High School library. How may I help you?" the standard greeting rang out from her slight form. I decided to listen in on the conversation just to do something; I wasn't really interested in the volume of the encyclopedia Britannica that I was holding up to the light. I'd already read it before, any way.

'"_Excuse me, Holly, but we were wondering if this was yours." Why would they ask that? Did I leave something in the office today?'_

"What Sharon? Did I leave something there today?"

'"_No, Holly. I think your daughter is here, but I'm not sure. All she's doing is asking for the phone." Oh, dear. Lauren must have come to surprise me for my birthday.'_

Shoot! I had forgotten her birthday! I'd need to go out later and get her a belated birthday gift. But Lauren was there. I guess I would be able to see if the years _had _changed her.

"Just send her over. I'll take care of it."

'"_Alright, Holly. She's on her way.'"_

"Okay, Sharon. Talk to you later."

'"_Bye." Sigh… I hope Lauren is in a good mood today. Oh! I should go get Bella. I'm sure she would be eager to meet one of her parets' old school chums; God rest their souls.' _

She was so sweet. I loved Ms. Holly. So kind, so innocent, even with the wisdom of age.

"Bella?" I heard her small voice call out to me over the shelves.

I got up and began making my way to her. "What, Ms. Holly?"

"My daughter has come for an unexpected visit. You know, Lauren?"

"Oh, yeah! I remember you mentioning her yesterday."

'_She is _so _considerate.' _"Well, she's on her way, and I was hoping that—" _'You could introduce yourself.'_

Lauren came into the room, cutting her mother short by the clumping of her heavy snow boots. She only glanced at me in passing while kissing her mother on the cheek, but just after she bustled into the cloakroom she stopped abruptly and turned to look out at me again.

I had been wrong before to hope that she had changed in the years that we had not seen each other. She was just as mean. As she compared me with her memories she began throwing out curses and other thoughts making me the lesser out of this small group.

"Mom… who is _she_?" _'Ugh, she looks exactly like those weirdoes, the… the… what's-his-names… the Cullens! There we go! The Cullens.'_

"Oh, Laurie, this is a student here. I told you about her before. This is Bella Cullen. You knew her parents in high school."

'_Oh, yeah. I knew that this was their creepy little offspring.' _"Oh, how nice. A pleasure to meet you Bella."

I took her hand with a smile. My cold touch made her flinch making it even more satisfying. "Are your parents around?"

"No, Mrs…."

"Mrs. Drew. Would you just answer my question?"

"Well, no. They died in a car accident when I was a baby."

"Oh, right! You were the only survivor in that wreck; in the papers they said it was a miracle." _'Yeah, it's a miracle that she didn't turn into some psycho, little kid with OCD, or something like that. Seriously, who would irresponsible enough to kill three other people, not only themselves?'_

It took me longer than usual to bring myself into control with her words; some past grievances were brought up to the surface with this visit.

"I suppose it was…"

An awkward silence filled the room while I read their thoughts and Lauren gawked at me. Her offensive personality was nothing compared to the look she was giving me. All she was thinking about was how I shouldn't be so pretty, and she was betting herself that I had had plastic surgery after the accident to give me the beauty I had.

"You and my parents went to high school together?" I asked innocently, interrupting her thoughts.

"Yes, we did." She answered absent mindedly. Taking a closer look at me, she noticed something. "Has anyone ever told you that you are the spitting image of your parents?"

It was the first honestly kind thing that I had ever heard Lauren say to someone else. I assume I must have looked like a combination of Edward and me, but I had not ever really thought about it. To someone who had known us while I was human they would have thought that I was exactly like the two of us put together. My pale skin, grace, unbelievable beauty, and gold eyes would have immediately connected me to Edward; my physical appearance would connect me to myself as a human.

"Thank you so much Mrs. Drew. I sometimes worry that I'm losing them. Especially my… father." The thought of my being like _him_—even if only by appearance—put a sad smile on my face.

"Oh, I guess you could call me Lauren."

"Lauren…" I tried it out on my tongue quietly. It was strange to say after so many years. And that put my mind back on Edward.

'_This kid is so weird. She looks like she lost them yesterday, let alone almost twenty years ago. Why would she worry so much though? She can barely remember them! How could she? She was too young to remember anything about them.'_

"Why would you worry?"—she brought the subject up again—"You couldn't possibly remember them."

My eyes slightly narrowed. "You'd be surprised."

"Oh, sweetie," Ms. Holly interrupted. "We are both so sorry."

Thankfully, the bell rang just as she got up to give me a hug. I don't think that I would be able to stand the smell.

I hurried into the cloakroom to gather my things. As I was going through the front doors, I looked behind me and said, "Goodbye, Lauren. It was lovely to meet you."

At the tone that I said her name she had a sudden afterthought, and hurried outside to try and find me, but I was long gone; lost in the sea of students milling about in the falling snow.

'Twilight' © Stephenie Meyer

'Sorrow's Credence' © Bernadette-Cullen


	2. Chapter 2

Sorrow's Credence 2

I escaped to chemistry, my only class that had any hope of being interesting; even slightly. Science was a subject that was always changing, constantly having a possibility to surprise me. Calculus also held my interest more than most of my subjects, and I laughed at the memory of fretting over these classes the first time that I took them.

My seat by the window looked lonely and solitary, away from the rest of the class. I was one of the few people in this advanced course that didn't have any problems with their eyes, so Ms. Rinkenberger had taken advantage of my over twenty-twenty vision by putting me at the back of the classroom. My eyes were stinging from my visit with Lauren, and I was running a high risk of bursting into tears in class, and I think that the blood running down my cheeks would most likely shock my fellow students into not speaking, and poor Ms. Rink into calling the emergency room.

Luckily, today was an experiment day; it would be easier to keep my mind off of _them _when I had my hands busy. As Ms. Rink got out the equipment that we needed I prepared myself for the time period of at least forty-five minutes where I would have to sit next to a foul-smelling human. Ugh, they reeked invariably.

The experiment was simple Borax soap and white glue. It made a slimy concoction, properly entitled: slime. It was barely worthy for high school, but Ms. Rink was feeling charitable that week and felt this would be a fun substitution for the unit we were studying. My partner was a kind hearted girl that was fascinated with astronomy named Hoshiko. She was a foreign exchange student, and I was often paired with her because of my ability to speak Japanese. My affinity for foreign language was a product of lonely, boring nights without Edward to keep me company.

"Hoshiko-san," I questioned her in Japanese. ", have you ever lost any family?"

She put down the slime she had been giggling over and turned to face me. "Yes, Bella-san. My father died of AIDS after I turned ten when we were in Shinjuku, Tokyo; Japan. We were living beneath the railway station at the time, and he got really sick. He'd had HIV for a while, got it right after I was born, when Momma died."

I pondered her thoughts for a while after that, feeling the slippery texture of the slime in my hands.

"Was there a reason you asked, Bella-san?" She said turning to me.

"Yes, there was actually. One of my… parents' old friends from high school recently showed up and brought up some old thoughts. Did I ever tell you that my parents passed away?"

"No. I don't _think _so."

A comfortable silence settled in while she played with her slime and I looked at the walls, attempting to distract myself. Ms. Rinkenberger had done a good job decorating; at least as teachers are concerned. There were a few cheesy posters that said, "Excuses stop here," and others that had pictures of kittens hanging on tree limbs telling you to, "Hang in there." She had covered one wall with green colored paper and stapled a tree to it where each of her students were displayed as a leaf on it; our names, birth dates, and blood types listed. I had had to sneak in a bag of blood during blood testing so that I wouldn't have to skip class. It was interesting, watching everybody prick themselves and giggle and squeal at the blood droplets. It brought back memories.

No SmartBoard was present, so all Ms. Rink had was an old touch screen computer with a pen that she showed on the wall with the projector so that she could have us write notes with her. Her favorite style was Cornell note taking, and we always had to use good-old-fashioned rulers to make strait lines on the left side of the page.

I looked down at the table. I couldn't distract myself any longer. I searched for the mind of the person controlling the bells and gave him a quick command to let us out a few minutes early.

The bell rang and we all left for our separate classes.

*** * ***

The snow had stopped when the last bell sounded— early again—and since today was a Friday, and my birthday, I had a certain ritual that needed to be performed. Even though I did this everyday, it would be different than most evenings. I ran to the warm sanctuary of my old Toyota Prius. Very few people had this old of a car, but I thought that it was perfect. I had installed SolarFlex material to the top of the car, so it could be powered by the sun when it appeared (which wasn't very often). The miniature Wind Turban on the end of my car antenna helped when I was driving so that the wind helped to recharge my car. The deeply tinted windows helped protect me from the sun and being seen sparkling when I was driving on those rare sunny days. I had almost completely rebuilt the engine (with Jacob's help, of course) to allow my need for speed.

The smell of the leather interior reminded me that I needed to go hunting soon, but that would have to wait. Something much more important awaited me later in the day.

I easily found the turnoff from the freeway. The trees going by so quickly helped me to numb my mind, but it wasn't that good of a distraction. I slowed to see them more closely. Spruce, Cedar, Fir, usually blended together when I tried to watch the road, avoid human suspicion. At least I could still drive quickly with my "built in radar."

Uh oh. It was a bad idea to think of Edward at a time like this.

I pulled over and curled up into a ball. Closing my eyes, I took three jagged breaths, and threw open the car door and ran off into the sanctuary of the forest. I couldn't be idle any longer.

I flew to the trees and blended myself into them. I made myself invisible to everything with eyes and felt the life spans of the plants that I touched with my bare hands. In my need to distract myself, I turned my gaze on a parasite growing on the side of the tree. I imagined fire burning it to a crisp, being ripped to bits with human hands, being ripped from the tree trunk that it clung to. It shrunk before my eyes and became so dehydrated that it might have fallen off if I hadn't stopped myself from torturing it with my own mind.

I scrambled gracefully up to the peak of the tree and looked down on the area. In my invisible state, no one could see me, and with a small tweak, I made myself impossible to hear.

I snarled into the wind and yelled at the birds that came too close. I was this close to leaping out into space and popping their little heads off. My nostrils flared while I tried to avert my attention to the city below. I was pretty far up the mountain so I could see it almost too easily.

What I saw was very familiar and well known. I saw the school far off and covered with fog, easily seen through. A few fast food chains stood around, most going out of business; the health food craze had once again taken hold of the American populace. Other organic food markets and stores thrived and vegetarian restaurants were seen with people coming in and out, buying whole wheat and the greener part of the food pyramid.

Organic dairy farms spread out through the valley and on my place on the mountain I could see the speckles on the cows. They had wolf problems, which were usually me, but an occasional wolf came through. I only hunted wild animals in places where they had a surplus of them, and a multitude of places did with the environmental craze still going on. Many animals that had once been on the endangered species list had come back after years of breeding programs, and with tracking devices on them they could find poachers easily and apprehend them. I enjoyed giving them a good scare whenever they came into the area, myself.

Free range chicken farms were just over in the next farming town, and that was where most of the jobs in the adjoining cities came from, that and the dairy farms.

From the little cookie cutter houses in the suburbs below I saw smoke coming from their chimneys; the comforting scent of cedar chips met me and let me forget the terrible smoke that day. The overpowering scent that haunted me everyday and stuck to my skin no matter how many times I tore at it or washed it. I used soap, ammonia, drain cleaner, acid; nothing that I used to make it go away worked.

I had once gone to a psychic to see if they could learn anything. Searching for months for one that actually had anything close to power, and only to learn that I was blocked from her mental path.

My mind was always blocked.

I jumped down and landed lightly, twigs and wet moss feeling like feathers beneath my feet. I had kicked off my shoes in the car. I ran down to the clearing in front of my home. Exactly like them all. A huge, three story mansion that was pure white on the exterior with a garage far behind it; it was a perfect replica of all of the houses that I had lived in. All of them looked like this.

Going deep within myself I looked for the shields that I possessed. The first was a physical shield that I knew of from my first fight. I had been practicing since the moment I could pick myself up and last a day without weeping during daylight, and I could stretch it out as far as I wanted to, now.

The second was a mental shield that I had discovered by accident. Messing with my physical shield, I had pulled a weird wire and found that I had a mental shield also. I could protect multiple people from both physical and mental attacks and abilities.

The first shield came out. I could feel it, like a strong, flexible fabric that I knew would hold against anything. Next came the second. A green light came to my eyes, and I knew that this would become warmer and eventually turn red when I was most angry. I ran forward into the trees. Animals—moles and butterflies and things—were suddenly moving in the opposite direction. Even some plants bowed out from me; around the entire diameter of my shield they fell away from me, making a halo around me.

Even the single, daunting sequoia tree at the base of the mountain shook when I came to it. Snapping in my shield, I practically flew to the tree's summit. I controlled a deer's mind below. It moved too quickly through the timber at my command and found the food it had been searching for beforehand. I wasn't heartless—disturbed, maybe, but not heartless.

I ran through everything that I had found I could do: relationship manipulation, mind manipulation, mind reading, single and mass invisibility, making people deaf to the sounds I made; my mind shield, my physical shield, mass anesthesia, torture, tracking, knowing peoples' minds by touch; and multiple others. There were so many that I was surprised that I hadn't been able to find my limit. Through meeting old friends of Carlisle's and meeting other people in my constant traveling I had discovered a variety of abilities that I could mimic perfectly. Some were harder and I had to practice them, but others were very easy after seeing the process in their minds.

After a while I knew that I had to leave. It had turned dark by then, and I needed to make my way back to the Prius so that I could park it before making my way to the cathedral. I had vented my feelings long enough, and this gave me no true pleasure; I just did this everyday to keep my skills sharp so that I couldn't be taken by surprise again. Never again.

It had begun to rain—the temperature above freezing—and I let it wash my face as I ran to the cathedral. The run-down structure was only a few hundred miles away and it would take me only about a half hour at the least.

I was dripping when I saw the building. I slowed to a walk before I came to the low front steps. It was quite small; the stones were barely held together and the roof was a little leaky. I had repaired it as best I could, but Esme had been the genius with remodeling.

The candles at the small alter were not burning anymore. I took one of the long matches from beside the stand and lit new ones. Alice, Jasper, Esme, Carlisle, Rosalie, Emmett.

Edward…

The seven candles burned brightly while my eyes filmed over. No. Not yet. It had to wait. I couldn't fall apart yet. Why I waited for that moment, I didn't know. All I knew was that I would save my blood for… _him. _

I walked to the front of the little room, past the run down, wooden pews. My speed was gradual. I couldn't bring myself faster than a crawl.

The cathedral was one of my frequent haunts. I had never been religious. Even as I walked there was apprehension at the back of my mind. But I needed to be there. I felt that I might find him there; that he might be lurking in the shadows, ready to jump out and startle me at any moment. I needed to find a way to connect with him. Even if he wasn't here any longer.

There was both a piano and an organ at the very farthest reaches of the cathedral. I chose the piano. I kept both instruments clean and the ivory keys were polished and gleaming in the dim light of the candles that I lit as I passed by them.

I sat at the piano. I lifted my fingers to the keys and felt along them for the familiar melody.

The music coursed through the room. My lullaby sang out from the perfectly tuned cords within the beautiful, old concert grand. I couldn't contain it anymore. The blood stained the ivory as the song Edward had written for me filled the room. I tasted the bitter tears and my face twisted into the mask of grief I wore every night.

In that moment no one was around. No other mind interrupted my own reflection of my life with him. Only a few short months and they were all gone forever. They wouldn't come back, but they would always be with me. The scar on my right hand throbbed as my fingers flew over the keys. Only in these moments would he truly live in me.

I could feel _his _venom coursing through the veins in my body that had been empty for so long; my body ached for him and I needed to have him near me. I waited in agony for him to speak to me again. He was almost there. Only a few more moments…

'_Bella, love. Why do you cry?'_

I gasped in relief. _'Edward. You're here.'_

'_Of course I am here. I told you that I always would be.'_

'_I'm always worried that you're gone. Today was so hard, Edward—but every day is hard… I want you with me.'_

'_I know, love. I want to hold you in my arms again and feel your breathing next to me. I need to know that you're safe.'_

I sighed as I heard his immaculate voice resonate in my mind. This had happened before, but with a different cause. I found with my playing our lullaby that he would speak to me for the length of the song. I don't know why; something to do with my hand. I hated that I could only do it once a day though; that is why I had to wait for so long.

'_Why did you do it? Why didn't you let me die with you?'_

'_Bella, we've gone over this before.'_

'_Just tell me. Why? Every moment that you are gone I miss you with the same ferocity that I have since the moment you… you… died.' _I choked at the last thought.

'_Don't think like that. I wanted you to live so that you wouldn't have _your_ life ended.'_

'_But it _is _ended, Edward. I'm in hell. Everything is hell without you.'_

There was something about that second of silence where it felt like there was something being hidden. How, I do not know, but something… My thoughts were moved to the back of my mind.

The piece was about to end; no, not yet! I needed him for a few more minutes. Seconds!

I slowed the tempo. _'Bella, don't do that just to hear me.'_

'_I need to. I need _you. _You can't leave yet.'_

'_You know that I'm never gone.'_

'_That is such bull-shit. I want you here _always. _Not just sometimes.'_

I held out the last cord, pushing down on the keys and the right pedal as hard as I could without breaking them.

'_Good bye, Bella, love.'_

'_No! Please, don't go!'_

'_I love you…'_

His voice was fading. _'I love you too much to bear, Edward.'_

In the last moments I could hear his quiet breathing—it hitched—making a new river of bloody tears fall down my face. The repetition of our last words to each other gave us both pain. But me more so than him.

I took out a handkerchief and wiped away the slight gore. From my reflection in one of the broken windows I could see it had stained my cheeks a bit. My nose was stuffed with red tinted mucus and I blew my nose into the already stained handkerchief.

When I stuffed it into my pocket I heard a new thought wave come into my perception. I flew out of the cathedral; so quickly that all of the candles but those on the alter were blown out.

I quickly scaled a tree to have the higher ground—put up both of my shields and became invisible and silent—and listened in on the vampire making their way toward me.

'Twilight' © Stephenie Meyer

'Sorrow's Credence' © Bernadette-Cullen


	3. Chapter 3

Sorrow's Credence 3

Her thoughts were all about me. There was something vaguely familiar about her but I couldn't place my finger on it.

'_Her scent is going this way. Hold on… is that blood? Why would there be human blood around? Aro said that when he was looking in her mate's thoughts that she was revolted by it.'_

She came into view just then. I immediately recognized her. Her name was Julianne and she was a member of the Volturi. She had been present the day that Edward and the rest of my family had been killed. I turned off all of the protection I had put on and flew at her. I wanted to kill her without aide.

I would tear her head off with my bare hands.

A snarl ripped through my chest as I came at her. I put up my physical shield just in time to block her ability: psychokinesis. She could move anything with her mind, and it was physical so I couldn't reproduce the ability myself.

'_Dammit! Why isn't she moving?'_

I circled with her in the pouring rain. She was moving everything that she could get her mind on and I was easily blocking it with my shield. I flew at her with a snarl and got hold of her pant leg.

Miraculously, she manipulated the water molecules to lift her into the air and flew about me. I scrambled up a tree and launched myself at her. She got out of the way just in time and I continued to attack.

I managed to grab her collar and neck and hold her there for a few moments. Just before I made the blow she used the water to lift us both up and amazingly got me from her shirt by pulling herself away with the water molecules.

It was so annoying. Each time I came at her she would swoop away and I was too focused to think about her stupid, little, nagging mind.

The ground racked beneath me; I had to be careful to keep my footing. A tree smashed down to my right and in a blind attempt to throw her off track I picked it up and threw it at her. She narrowly missed it, and it started heading down to the chapel.

"No!" I couldn't let it be destroyed.

Acting quickly, I shot up the tallest tree nearby and threw myself at the tree. Using all of my strength, I managed to move it away from the church. I slammed into it, leaving a huge impression and it moved away. A chunk of the surrounding forest was taken out with just the force of my body and the mass of the tree causing the trees to domino down, away from the chapel.

Julianne looked at me quizzically. _'What the hell? Wait; is that candle light coming from inside? A shrine? What the hell?'_

"Shut up!" I shrieked.

Finally, I used them.

Seeing as she was so experienced, I decided to give her a little test.

With a wicked smile I disappeared; I made her deaf to my every movement. While she looked around in confusion I scaled a tree and flew at her. Her breath was knocked out of her when I slammed her into the ground, making a crater that went down for three feet. Using the infinite blood reserve within me that allowed me to cry, I held her down easily, despite her struggles.

Revealing myself to her I spat in her face. She turned her head to wipe the venom off of her face before it left a scar but I held it up to the rain and I ignored the thoughts dancing before my eyes. She manipulated the water to clean her face, to my indignation.

"Do you know what it feels like to die, Julianne?" I snarled. "Do you know what it feels like to be burned alive?"

I imagined her doing so and she shrieked bloody murder. None of it escaped the sound barrier I kept around us.

"Well, believe me; you will know what it feels like _very _soon."

"Wait! Please! I can help you!"

I growled in reply. "I don't need any help from you."

"Please! I'm not with them! I swear! Please, just listen to me!"

I electrocuted her and heard her scream into the air. "Please! Don't kill me! I hate them! They did this to me! I don't want to be a monster!"

I paused with a hiss. She was telling the truth; I knew that from both her thoughts and also the weird ability that I had to know when someone was being honest or not.

"Fine." I bit down on her right arm.

She cried out and tried to make a rock smash into the back of my head, which I deflected with a quick slap of the hand.

"What the hell?"

"That will show you the promise you made to me."

"Since when did I promise you anything?"

"You did in your mind, I heard you loud and clear."

"Ugh!" She broke the rock that she had previously tried to hurt me with into pieces in a small explosion.

I ducked as a piece whizzed past my head.

"You'll have to pardon me." She said crossly. "When I'm mad things explode."

I dismissed it with a nod before turning to leave.

"Hey! Wait up!"

She made a tree fall in front of me, which made me pause long enough for her to catch up.

"Where are you going?" _'This chick is the weirdest person I've met yet.'_

"Watch your thoughts; you _do _know that I can hear them, right?"

"Oh—shit—sorry."

"And watch your mouth."

"What about it? I've been watching it for too long around the Volturi, and I'm not going to just—"

I interrupted her and gave her a quick mental command to shut up.

'_Dammit, what the hell?'_

"You have _no _idea how much I can do."

'_Well, what else _can _you do? Aro still wants you for the Volturi.'_

"Oh, so you just thought that I would come at your command? Not a chance."

'_No! I'm not even with them anymore. Anyway, I knew that I wouldn't be able to win the fight without them to back me up. They still think that you're near the Olympic Peninsula.'_

"So you have been with them recently." Why did I even say it? I already knew.

'_Yeah, well, anyway; so he keeps trying to track you with Demetri and another person, I can't really remember his name… I creepy little man. Keeps to himself. Was a friend of your old leader. Carlisle, right?'_

"Yeah. Alistair?"

'_That's the one!'_

I couldn't believe Alistair would betray Carlisle like that. He was so paranoid though, he would easily surrender to the Volturi. We walked in slight silence. I had slowed my pace to keep track of her; it was unnecessary but she was soothed by my not running off ahead of her.

'_Listen—'_

"No!" I growled.

She recoiled from my tone like I had struck her, afraid that I would torture her again. _'Please? Please, just take a moment and don't go crazy on me? I want to explain…'_

"There is _nothing _to explain." I hissed. "You helped them kill my family. You will die someday as well. Don't think you can get into my good graces with a smile and an apology. This won't be permanent."

She started scratching the bite-mark on her arm. _'Then why the hell did you bite me?'_

"Because, you need to know your place."

'_I am older than you are. _You _should be ranked beneath _me.'

"In skill I am more advanced then you will ever be."

'_That was luck.'_

I laughed harshly, thinking of how doomed I had always been. "Hardly."

'_Just… ugh! I left Them to help you! Why won't you let me! I can tell you Their weaknesses, strengths; anything you want to know I could tell you and you would have that much of an advantage over Them.'_

"What does it matter to you?"

She was reluctant in thinking what she must. _'They… They… They made me this way. They sent Michael after me while I was human. He convinced me to become what I am, and for what? I hate this life. Killing humans that think they're on a great vacation and conquering other covens to gain strength for the 'greater good''—_she rolled her eyes—'_The truth behind it was vanity and deception. When they couldn't convince you to come with them they went against you. If they couldn't have your gifts, no one could. Michael and I were together, sure, but only for so long._

'_Michael and I went away to go get the humans outside of the city that would sustain us. That was our main assignment when there was nothing to do; nothing to conquer. Another female, Katriana, would always come with us, but I never noticed…'_

The rest fell into place shortly. Michael would always find an excuse to be alone with Katriana. She had no rank and was just someone who was supposed to fetch food. One day Julianne grew suspicious and followed Michael—a triumph, considering how he would usually be invisible. Tracing his scent, she found an abandoned little shack in the middle of a desolate forest that was filled with growls and snarls that she first thought were the sound of an attacker. But, when she drew closer she realized what the scene was: Michael had met Katriana here—obviously many, many times before—and was making love to her in secret. He had turned them both invisible to shield from obtrusive eyes, but nothing could have muffled the sound of their passion and ecstasy.

At the time, Julianne had been devastated. However, soon after he had reappeared, pulling her into his arms and whispering how he had missed her so, she found the anger that had been left untouched since that morning. Feigning passion and hoping that he would fall for it, she killed him swiftly when he was most vulnerable. Soon after she sought out Katriana and killed her as well. Katriana was weak and didn't know how to defend herself; she was easily obliterated by Julianne.

"I am sorry." I said stiffly, loathing the idea of sympathizing, but her thoughts forced me to. Such depression and fury, but a weird ulterior motive left untouched for years. It was impossible not to know how she felt.. But, then again, my situation had been much worse. I glared at her, giving her a bit of a scare. Yay.

'_What? What did I do now?'_

I huffed and she continued to pester me.

'_What the hell is wrong with you? Seriously? We have almost the exact problems! Why won't you just accept me?'_

"Because you killed them!" I snarled. "How hard is that to understand?"

Julianne blanched and ran a few hundred paces away.

"Ugh! I'm not going to attack you again, you idiot! Not yet, anyway." I mumbled the last sentence while she trotted back to my side.

'_I didn't really participate, you know.'_

"Just being there links you to them."

'_No it doesn't—'_

"Just shut up!"

I launched myself forward and ran to the house in less than a minute, Julianne trying to catch up unsuccessfully.

I scaled the steps and threw myself onto the bed in _our _room. A few moments later Julianne stood in the doorway.

'_This décor is a little predictable, don't you think? I've seen it before. And, why don't you get a new bed? It's a mess.'_

Blood running down my cheeks I was directly in front of her, pushing her back to the wall with her forearms in my hands. Through clenched teeth I said, "Well, excuse me for having some sentimentality! And don't you dare insult this house, this family, or me. You killed your _own _mate, your family lived after you left them. I watched mine die."

Her pitch black irises saw the agony in my golden ones, ringed red because of my swallowing tears. Through her eyes she saw me burning, my letting her arms go in defeat and turning back into the room. She eyed the bloodstained sheets on the bed and the bloody handkerchiefs in the laundry bin.

'_What a waste.'_

She couldn't help herself. She was so used to embracing the blood, the gore; she couldn't understand why I resisted. I allowed her to speak.

"Thank God. I thought that I would never be allowed to talk again."

"Be thankful, that's all."

I wiped my eyes and cheeks again. We were both dripping from the rain still, but I didn't offer her anything. She thought this to be rude. I laughed without amusement. I didn't laugh with sincerity anymore. I'd lost my sense of humor.

"Umm… can I freshen up?" she asked as politely as she could.

"There's a bathroom at the end of the hall." I answered dryly.

"Thanks."

I changed into dry clothes quickly before she came out. I didn't want to damage anything with the water so I hung them to dry in the shower in the bathroom adjoined to the room.

Julianne came out of the third floor guest bathroom, finally. She had a towel rapped around her and her clothes were floating in the air beside her as she walked toward me.

"So, where do I put these?" she asked nonchalantly.

I took a calming breath and lead her down the stairs and to the laundry room off of the kitchen. "Just put them in the dryer and they'll be fine in about an hour."

The dryer stood docile and yet Julianne looked panicked.

"You don't know how to use a dryer?"

"Other people do the laundry in the Volturi. Usually one of the human employees or someone lower, but I never did it. Like you said before—"

"Much too valuable…" I recalled my first words to her: _'It's okay Julianne. You won't be kicked out; much too valuable.' _

She laughed. "Right! Valuable enough to recruit when I was human."

She glanced at the dryer, indicating that she needed help, so I handed her the instruction manual. In Japanese. Her face fell when the thick volume weighed her hands down, ever so slightly.

"So… how did that happen?"

She had begun flipping through the tome, translating, and looked up to meet my gaze. "What happened?"

"How did they happen upon you?"

"Oh, that!"

Julianne put her clothes in the dryer carefully, turned the knob, and pressed the start button. She smiled proudly and turned to face me again.

"Well, you already know that." She said. "The 'thoughts-by-touch' thing works, right?"

"Yes, but when I touched your skin last I wasn't paying much attention to you. I was focusing on torturing you before I killed you."

She sighed. "Yeah, that's true… why don't you just touch me again, and you'll know?" She inquired cheerfully. She seemed to have a certain charisma that helped her make friends. I was bothered by it a bit, but I didn't pay attention to it.

"Because I want _you_ to tell me about it."

My words were laced with an unspoken menace that forced the words to come bubbling up.

"Can we sit down at least?" Why she would suggest this, I had no idea. Even with being able to read her mind, it just seemed so odd. We were both perfectly comfortable with standing here for hours. Neither of us would ever get tired.

"Fine." I replied. I couldn't see the harm in it. It didn't seem to matter, really.

She followed me into the front room and I gestured for her to take a seat on the sofa. I rested at the piano bench, the farthest seat from hers. I began to play Esme's favorite, softly. Julianne looked at me nervously, as if waiting for me to finish.

"Julianne," I said. ", although I am flattered by your patience, if you do not start talking soon, I will be forced to force you."

I wasn't saying it in a mean way—just telling the truth—but she shivered and nodded apprehensively.

She opened her mouth to begin. "Alright. Where should I start?" Reluctance coated every word. I could tell this wouldn't be pretty; I don't know why, but I begrudgingly gave her some privacy and pushed her mind away from my hearing. One of the gifts of being overly gifted was to be selective.

Julianne shifted uneasily on the pure white cushions and began to tell her story.

'Twilight' © Stephenie Meyer

'Sorrow's Credence' © Bernadette-Cullen


End file.
